Flying Toy Vehicle

ABSTRACT

A flying toy vehicle includes a fuselage; wings connected with the fuselage, a propulsion device with propeller supported from each wing rearwardly of a leading edge of the wing. A slot extends laterally and vertically through the wing. At least one vertical stabilizer is secured with the fuselage rearwardly of the propeller and the wing; at least one horizontal stabilizer secured with the fuselage and the at least one vertical stabilizer rearwardly of the propeller and the wing. At least a second vertical stabilizer is provided on the wing between a leading edge of the wing and the propeller and at least a third vertical stabilizer is provided on the wing between the slot and the wing trailing edge.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/797,779, filed on May 4, 2006 entitled “Flying Toy Vehicle” and to International Application No. PCT/US07/10970 filed May 4, 2007 with the same title, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to flying toys. More specifically, the present invention relates flying toy vehicles for providing highly dynamic performance with increased engaging play particularly with wireless remote control (R/C).

Flying toy vehicles are well known. It is believed that a new toy vehicle capable of being operated on various types of supporting surfaces as well as being capable of flight would provide highly dynamic performance and more engaging play activity than previous toy vehicles.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly stated, the present invention is directed to a flying toy vehicle comprising: a fuselage; at least one wing member connected with a central portion of the fuselage, the wing member extending from a leading edge to a trailing edge along the length of the at least one wing member; a propulsion device housing supported on the at least one wing member fully rearwardly of a leading edge of the at least one wing member, the propulsion device including a propeller supported for rotation through a slot extending laterally and vertically through the at least one wing member; at least one vertical stabilizer secured with the fuselage rearwardly of the propeller and the at least one wing member; at least one horizontal stabilizer secured with the fuselage and the at least one vertical stabilizer rearwardly of the propeller and the at least one wing member; at least a second vertical stabilizer on the at least one wing member located laterally and longitudinally between the leading edge of the at least one wing member and the slot; and at least a third vertical stabilizer on the at least one wing member located laterally and longitudinally between the slot and the trailing edge of the wing member.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in connection with the following, detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, which description is presented in conjunction with annexed drawings below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown herein. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts. For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front, left-side perspective view of a flying toy vehicle in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a left-side elevation view of the toy vehicle as depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the toy vehicle as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a remote control mechanism utilized in conjunction with the flying toy vehicle depicted in FIGS. 1 through 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed below without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “right,” “left,” “lower” and “upper” designate directions in the photographs to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the toy vehicle and designated parts thereof. The terminology includes the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import. The terms “horizontal” and “vertical” relate to the toy vehicle oriented with all of its wheels in contact with the ground. Additionally, the word “a” as used in the specification means “at least one.”

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3 a first embodiment of a flying toy vehicle (or simply “toy vehicle”) 10. The toy vehicle 10 comprises a central body assembly or fuselage 20 preferably constructed from EPP foam, a left side wing member 30 and a right side wing member 40 wherein at least one propulsion device 70 is disposed therewith each wing member 30, 40 in a housing 15, preferably lying fully rearwardly of the leading edge 31. The toy vehicle 10 further comprises a tail assembly indicated generally at 80 comprising a plurality of vertical stabilizer members such as a left vertical tail stabilizer member 90, a central vertical tail stabilizer member 100, and a right vertical tail stabilizer member 110 and at least one horizontal tail stabilizer member 120 extending between the three vertical stabilizers 90, 100, 110. Preferably, a second horizontal stabilizer 125 is provided between the lower ends of the vertical stabilizer members 90, 100, 110. As discussed below, the toy vehicle 10 is adapted for operation on a variety of supporting surfaces (e.g., concrete, grass, snow, and sand) as well as being capable of flight. With continued reference to FIGS. 1-3, the toy vehicle 10 has a forward end 12 and a rear end 14 such that the central body assembly 20 is substantially disposed therebetween. The left side wing member 30 and the right side wing member 40 may be integrally formed together and attached through or to the central body assembly 20 or may be separately bonded or otherwise secured to each side of the central body assembly 20, respectively. The left side wing member 30 and the right side wing member 40 each comprise the leading edge 31 and a trailing edge 32 and form a generally continuously cambered surface 35 extending between the leading edge 31 and the trailing edge 32 along the length of the wing member so as to effectuate increased aerodynamic lifting as the propulsion devices 70 propel the toy vehicle 10 forward.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1-3, each wing member 30, 40 is configured with individual propulsion devices indicated generally at 70, including convention drive motor and reduction gear box (neither shown) for driving a propeller 70 a of the device 70. The motor and reduction transmission are disposed in a housing 15 on each of respective wing members 30, 40. The drive motors can be conventional brushed electric motors or specialty motors, if desired. In the embodiment shown in the FIGS. 1-3, each propeller 70 a is preferably driven by a single brushed electrically driven motor. Each drive motor is preferably powered by a conventional power source, in the present embodiment a lithium polymer 400 mA battery (not shown) housed within the central body assembly 20. One skilled in the art will readily understand that there exists, now or in the future, any number of drive motors, propulsion devices 70 and power sources or batteries that can be accommodated with the present toy vehicle 10 as described without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Therefore, any such alternative drive motors (not shown), propulsion devices 70, and batteries or other power sources (not shown) are fully contemplated for use by the present invention.

As presently preferred and shown, a channel or “slot” 78 is provided in each of the left and right side wing members 30, 40 extending laterally and vertically through the respective wing member 30, 40 and their cambered surfaces 35 for providing an opening in which the propeller 70 a can freely rotate without obstruction. Housing 15 is located laterally and longitudinally between the leading edge 31 and the slot 78 and provides some further protection to and from propeller 70 a. Further protection is provided by a partial ring member 74 supported at either end by connection to the wing 30, 40 extending over and partially around propeller 70 a spanning the slot 78 and preferably supported at its center by a cantilever beam 72 extended upwardly from housing 15. Further protection is provided by a vertical member 16 extended downwardly from the wing member 30 along a portion of the wing located laterally and longitudinally between the leading edge 31 and the slot 78. Member 16 is further braced by a strut 16 a extended laterally outwardly from a lower position on the fuselage 20. In addition, a vertical member 18 is extended forward from the tail assembly 80 and, at its leading end, forks into sections 18 a and 18 b over and under the trailing edge 32 of the wing 30. Sections 18 a and 18 b are located laterally and longitudinally between slot 78 and the trailing edge 32 of wing 30. Housing 15 and members 16 and 18 are all relatively long, tall and thin and act as first (15) and second (16) forward vertical stabilizers (between leading edge 31 and slot 78) while portions 18 a, 18 b of member 18 act as third and fourth rearward vertical stabilizers (between slot 78 and the trailing edge 32) to provide added lateral stability to the vehicle 10 in flight as well as protection to and from propeller 70 a.

As the propulsion devices 70 cause the toy vehicle 10 to be propelled forward to a minimum predetermined speed to effectuate aerodynamic forces to act upon the cambered surfaces 35 of the left side wing member 30 and the right side wing member 40, the at least one horizontal tail stabilizer member 120 causes the toy vehicle 10 to become airborne (or alternatively while in flight allows changes in climb attitude/angle) due to either a fixed deflection thereon a trailing portion 122 of the horizontal tail stabilizer member 120. It is also contemplated by the present invention, although not depicted, that the deflection of the trailing portion 122 of the horizontal tail stabilizer member 120 is adjustable and can be manually preset before operation or can be remotely controlled during operation by the radio controlled transmitter of the remote control unit 140 (described below). The plurality of vertical tail stabilizer members 90, 100, 110 provide lateral stability of the toy vehicle 10 during takeoff and flight.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1-3, it is shown that a plurality (four in the illustrated embodiment) of road wheels 130 are freely rotatably attached to the central body assembly 20 by way of individual struts 150 near the forward end 12 of the central body assembly 20 and on the vertical members 18 near the rear end 14 of the central body assembly 20 behind the trailing edges 32 of the wing members 30, 40. As shown, the road wheels 130 are configured and located to support the toy vehicle for surface operation. The road wheels 130 are preferably are relatively large in diameter (extending at least the full height of the fuselage 20, where the wheels are located along the length of the fuselage) to facilitate use of the toy vehicle on different supporting surfaces. Vertical member 15, 16 and 18 as well as vertical tail stabilizer members 90, 100, 110 are all essentially perpendicular to a planar surface defined by the bottommost points of all of the road wheels 130.

Now referring to FIG. 4, the toy vehicle 10 is preferably used in combination with a conventional wireless remote control unit or controller 140, wherein the controller 140 is activated by an operator preferably via an on/off switch 210. The toy vehicle 10 and the controller 140 are provided with conventional control electronics which in the present embodiment are adapted to control operation of the propeller drive motors. The construction and operation of controller 140 is described in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/446,001, filed Jun. 3, 2006, co-owned with the present application and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

As stated above, the toy vehicle 10 is capable of operating on a surface such as pavement, concrete, grass, sand, or snow and can be made to be buoyant and water-proof, and adapted for use on water if so desired. Take-off and landing speed and direction of the toy vehicle 10 is controlled by desired displaced movement of individual controller sticks (e.g., left controller stick 200, right controller stick 205) located on the wireless remote controller 140.

Specifically, by operating the left controller stick 200 forward or backward, as desired, the overall speed of the drive motors attached to the propulsion devices 70 are simultaneously incrementally changed. In addition, by operating the right controller stick 205 left or right, as desired, the forward direction of the toy vehicle 10 is controlled. Such movement of the right controller stick 205 causes differential speed adjustments to the propulsion devices 70, thereby causing directional changes in the toy vehicle's 10 travel. For example, as the right controller stick 205 is deflected to the left by an operator, the rotational speed of the right side wing member's 40 propulsion device 70 is incrementally increased dependent upon the amount of deflection, thereby causing the toy vehicle to turn to the left due to increased RPM on the right side wing member's 40 propulsion device 70. Similarly, as the right controller stick 205 is deflected to the right by an operator, the rotational speed of the left side wing member's 30 propulsion device 70 is incrementally increased dependent upon the amount of deflection, thereby causing the toy vehicle to turn to the right due to increased RPM on the left side wing member's 30 propulsion device 70.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the present invention comprises toy vehicles capable of performing highly dynamic and entertaining stunt maneuvers. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. For example, although the invention is shown herein in terms of a four-wheeled embodiment, the present invention could also comprise a vehicle having two or three wheels, or more than four wheels. The toy vehicle 10 is preferably controlled via radio (wireless) signals from the wireless transmitter 140. However, other types of controllers may be used including other types of wireless controllers (e.g. infrared, ultrasonic and/or voice-activated controllers) and even wired controllers and the like. The vehicle 10 can be constructed of, for example, a polymeric material (plastic) or any other suitable material such as metal or composite materials. Also, the dimensions of the toy vehicle 10 shown can be varied, for example making components of the toy vehicle smaller or larger relative to the other components. It is understood, therefore, that changes could be made to the toy vehicle 10 described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present application.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiments of the invention.

The toy vehicle is adapted for operation on a variety of supporting surfaces (e.g., but not limited thereto, concrete, grass, snow, and sand) as well as being capable of flight. The flying toy vehicle and the radio controlling transmitter mechanism are preferably formed of polymeric materials, or the like, with a minimum number of parts and which can be assembled and used with ease and of relatively low cost.

In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments as may be desired.

It is therefore, contemplated that the claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments that fall within the true scope of the invention. 

1. A flying toy vehicle comprising: a fuselage; at least one wing member connected with a central portion of the fuselage, the wing member extending from a leading edge to a trailing edge along the length of the at least one wing member; a propulsion device housing supported on the at least one wing member fully rearwardly of a leading edge of the at least one wing member, the propulsion device including a propeller supported for rotation through a slot extending laterally and vertically through the at least one wing member; at least one vertical stabilizer secured with the fuselage rearwardly of the propeller and the at least one wing member; at least one horizontal stabilizer secured with the fuselage and the at least one vertical stabilizer rearwardly of the propeller and the at least one wing member; at least a second vertical stabilizer on the at least one wing member located laterally and longitudinally between the leading edge of the at least one wing member and the slot; and at least a third vertical stabilizer on the at least one wing member located laterally and longitudinally between the slot and the trailing edge of the wing member.
 2. The flying toy vehicle of claim 2 further comprising: a partial ring supported from the wing member extending over and partially around the propeller spanning the slot.
 3. The flying toy vehicle of claim 3 further comprising: at least a fourth vertical stabilizer on the at least one wing member between the slot and the trailing edge of the wing member.
 4. The flying toy vehicle of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of road wheels configured and located to support the toy vehicle on a support surface, at least the second and third vertical stabilizers being at least generally perpendicular to a planar support surface defined by bottommost portions of the plurality of road wheels. 